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Setting up your accounting firm in Missive (the POD model)
Blog →
by
Eva Tang
July 2, 2025
· Updated on
If you're building or scaling an accounting firm, your email system shouldn't be a bottleneck. Missive is a collaborative email platform designed for team-based work, perfect for accounting firms adopting a modern, client-centric workflow. One of the most effective structures is the POD model.
Here's how to configure Missive for firm-wide clarity, accountability, and efficiency, especially if you're running pods.
A POD is a small, cross-functional team, typically 4–6 people, designed to serve a set group of clients. Each pod includes a senior (e.g. manager or controller), one or more juniors, a coordinator/admin, and optionally an offshore or tech specialist. This structure creates:
Each POD should be its own Team Space in Missive. If you have less than 20 clients, you could set up a team space for each client or by each type of client.
If you're more than 20 clients, you might want to set up based on service line (tax, bookkeeping, etc).
This gives each pod its own inbox, chat room, and shared task list.
Each pod needs a clear front door for client emails. You can:
This allows routine client requests to come from a shared firm alias for consistency, but significant communications (e.g. year-end reports or advisory) can come from a named partner.
Missive allows team members can choose the appropriate sender identity on each reply, and you can even manage multiple signatures for different aliases.
Aliases are free and unlimited in Missive. Shared accounts are limited to 5 per user, so if your organization has 10 Missive users, you’re limited to 50 shared accounts.
Pro Tip: Using shared aliases helps maintain continuity when staff change, your clients won’t need to update their address books.
Missive’s rules engine lets you direct emails where they belong:
Example rule for escalating urgent emails:
Use Missive’s permission structure and collaboration tools to mirror pod roles:
This is more direct and less error-prone than relying on the traditional "cc" model, plus, it’s logged, so later you can see “this was assigned to John on Jan 5”.
If something needs a manager's attention, assign it to the manager or add an “Escalated” label.
The visibility of assignments is part of what makes Missive a “shared inbox on steroids,” giving everyone clarity on responsibilities.
Missive offers two strong workflows:
Don’t rely on memory. Let Missive flag important messages:
These automation rules reduce dropped balls and keep client service high.
If you start to add in Rules, especially their AI rules, a number of these steps can be automated.
The POD model lets your accounting firm scale without chaos. Combined with Missive's visibility, rules, and collaboration tools, it becomes a high-trust, high-efficiency operating system for client service.
Missive supports accounting firms with tools to ensure confidentiality and audit readiness:
Yes. Missive works as an overlay to your existing email provider (Microsoft 365, Gmail, etc.). Your team keeps their email addresses and Missive syncs everything in real time, without changing your domain or setup.
A: No. All emails, assignments, and internal comments stay visible to the team. Conversations don’t live in personal inboxes, they live in shared team spaces. You can reassign messages, check history, and maintain continuity easily.
Yes. Missive integrates with ClickUp, Trello, Aircall, HubSpot, and more. You can create tasks directly from emails, log calls, and pull in CRM data, all without leaving the app. Zapier and API access also allow custom integrations.
December 6, 2024
Managing Client Emails – Never lose track of emails again
Discover how agencies, firms, and service companies can manage client emails with ease using Missive.
Discover how agencies, firms, and service companies can manage client emails with ease using Missive. This guide offers practical tips to streamline communication, organize shared inboxes, and improve collaboration. Perfect for teams looking to eliminate email chaos and deliver exceptional client service.
It's the start of another week, and your email inbox looks like it exploded overnight. Messages from clients are piling up – a mix of red-flag emergencies, projects stuck in limbo waiting for your team to weigh in, and threads that are probably scattered across your coworkers' accounts too. Does this hit close to home? Most professionals know exactly what this email overwhelm feels like.
Traditional email wasn't built for modern client service. Whether you're a law firm juggling complex cases, a marketing agency coordinating campaign approvals, or a bookkeeping firm handling time-sensitive financial documents, you know the struggle. Your team is brilliant at what they do, but email chaos can make even the most organized professional feel overwhelmed.
That's where Missive comes in – not just as another email tool, but as your team's command center for client communication.
Think of Missive as your email client on steroids. But instead of just making email faster, it makes it smarter. Here's what I mean:
The first step in managing client cases is to consolidate relevant communication into shared inboxes. This ensures your team has access to the conversations they need to collaborate effectively.
Pro tip Easily stay on top of every message by accessing your team’s shared inbox and filtering by specific criteria like “Assigned to...” Whether you’re monitoring progress or ensuring nothing slips through the cracks, Missive’s filtering options make it simple to keep your communication organized and easy to find.
Use Labels to categorize client communication:
Missive’s Rules can automate this organization by applying labels or tags based on email content or sender.
Client work often revolves around mandates or projects requiring input from multiple experts or teams. Missive’s assignments feature helps you manage this complexity with ease.
Assign Conversations to Individuals or Teams: Direct emails to the appropriate team member or Team Inbox. For example:
Reassign as Projects Evolve: Projects often require input from different specialists at various stages. Missive allows you to change the assignee as needed. For instance:
Use Comments for Smooth Handoffs: Add internal comments to provide context when reassigning tasks, ensuring no details are lost in transition.
This flexibility makes Missive an ideal tool for handling non-linear workflows, ensuring accountability while supporting seamless collaboration.
Save time by creating templates for frequently sent emails, such as:
Missive integrates with popular CRMs, task managers, and other platforms. Alternatively, you can also create your own custom integration to let you access critical client information directly from your inbox.
Missive’s Tasks feature lets you stay on top of deadlines and deliverables:
Pair this feature with Labels to track tasks by client or project.
Some emails require input from multiple team members before they’re sent to clients. Use Missive’s Collaborative Writing feature to work together on sensitive or detailed communications.
This is particularly valuable for legal teams drafting contracts or marketing agencies working on creative proposals.
Missive’s search functionality allows you to quickly find emails, attachments, or notes related to a client or project. Use search operators (Outlook or Gmail) to filter searches by:
Pin frequent searches to the sidebar to make your workflow even more efficient.
If you're tired of email chaos and ready for a more organized, collaborative approach to client communication, Missive might be exactly what you need. Start with these basics, then customize as you go – your future self (and your clients) will thank you.
No more lost emails, no more communication silos, just smooth, efficient client service.
November 21, 2024
Email Delegation for Assistants, Leaders, and More.
Today's email delegation requires strategic thinking, careful prioritization, and the right tools to make it all work seamlessly.
The role of executive support has evolved a lot. Whether you're a Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant, or Team Lead, managing someone else's communication is no longer just about forwarding emails and sending basic responses. Today's email delegation requires strategic thinking, careful prioritization, and the right tools to make it all work seamlessly.
Gone are the days of sharing passwords or setting up complicated email forwarding rules. Modern email delegation is about creating efficient workflows while maintaining security and accountability. Here's what that looks like in practice:
Missive offers powerful workflows designed for modern email delegation:
Basic delegation requires no setup. Team members can mention @coworkers in the chat bar or use assignments to collaborate. No more forwarding endless email threads—everything stays in Missive for easy tracking and reference.
Other settings, such as sharing aliases, can be used to allow a team member to send emails from another team member's address. With this configuration, a team member can reply on your behalf but won't have access to all incoming emails unless they're being shared.
You will always have access to all emails sent by a delegated user.
For roles that need full access to another’s inbox, such as an executive assistant needing a CEO’s inbox, Missive offers a Team Inbox solution. By connecting an email account to a Team Inbox, all communications can be managed in a dedicated space, organized, and even scaled as the organization grows.
With team inboxes, there’s no need to mix shared emails with personal inboxes, and multiple team members can work together seamlessly, which is especially helpful for distributed teams.
Assistants can be made members of the team, and owners can be observers, these don't get notified of new emails, but they can keep an eye on everything at all times.
The assistant can reply as the owner of the account (ceo@acme.com). Also, a custom signature can be created.
Assistants can also triage emails by creating color-coded shared labels.
If an account contains private messages, Missive allows you to set up rules to filter these from the assistant’s view. For example, family, friends, or finance-related emails can be hidden, ensuring personal information stays private. This setup balances delegation with privacy, providing peace of mind while maintaining workflow efficiency.
In this case, the owner imports a private account. Here, email sharing is done automatically through rules. This configuration of delegation is essential when the content of some emails is private and can’t be seen by the assistant.
The owner (ceo@acme.com) can create rules to share only some emails with the assistant (assistant@acme.com) and keep the rest private.
In the next example, a rule is set to keep all family/friends/finance related emails from going to the assistant's inbox.
Actions such as removing a conversation from the owner's inbox can also be achieved with rules. For instance, when the assistant labels an email as "Non-essential", the rule will close the conversation, removing it from the owner's inbox, keeping it tidy.
The key to successful email delegation isn't just about tools – it's about creating a system that works for both the delegate and the owner. Here's how to build one:
Different roles require different levels of access. Consider creating tiers:
Establish clear guidelines for:
Set up boundaries for:
Mastering Triage:
Communication Management:
Delegation Success:
Collaborative Efficiency:
The key to successful email delegation is finding the right balance between:
Remember, effective email delegation isn't just about managing messages – it's about facilitating communication that moves your organization forward.
Whether you're just starting with email delegation or looking to improve your existing system, the most important thing is creating a framework that works for your specific situation. Start with the basics, refine as you go, and always keep security and efficiency in balance.
